Coalition for Diversity in Journalism May Lose Hispanic Members

Two years after a black journalism group left Unity: Journalists for Diversity, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists is considering leaving Unity because of its "financial disorganization."

Leaders of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists recommended Monday that the association leave the Unity: Journalists for Diversity coalition, an action that would leave the onetime Unity: Journalists of Color with two of the original four journalist-of-color associations and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association.

In a message to members posted on the NAHJ Web site, the four NAHJ representatives on the Unity board, including President Hugo Balta and Mekahlo Medina, vice president, broadcast, said, "UNITY's financial disorganization continues to be a frustration."

They cited what they called a lack of transparency and a revenue-sharing formula that "doesn't seem fair. UNITY should not be taking the largest share of the net income" when proceeds are split from the Unity convention.

"The current formula is not working for NAHJ," the statement said.

"We brought in 41% of the registrations and our total share was not at par [with] the percentage of attendees."

NAHJ is hosting a "virtual town hall meeting" on the Unity issue on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

The statement comes less than a week after Unity board members elected David Steinberg of the NLGJA as president on a 6-4 vote. NAHJ's four board representatives sat out the election.

Regarding NAHJ's complaint about the revenue split, Steinberg told Journal-isms, "The entire UNITY board, including representatives from NAHJ, approved the financial structure for the 2012 convention, which earmarked money for UNITY's operational costs. I intend to immediately address UNITY's operating budget and anticipate we will find cost savings that will allow for additional funding to flow to member organizations in the future."

"First, UNITY must show greater financial accountability. We can reduce costs and staffing needs by focusing the staff on planning the joint convention and garnering funding for UNITY and the alliance organizations' work. I believe UNITY can fulfill its advocacy role primarily by supporting -- rather than duplicating -- the work of the individual alliances."

He also said, "We need to change how board members are appointed and officers elected," and that he supports "creating an advisory board made up of representatives of other journalism organizations who share UNITY's mission and can help us promote media diversity.

"This would be a way to engage and coordinate with groups such as NABJ and SAJA, whose focus is on race, ethnicity and diversity in journalism, and encourage diversity efforts by broader journalism groups as SPJ, ASNE and RTDNA." The acronyms refer to the National Association of Black Journalists, the South Asian Journalists Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of News Editors and the Radio Television Digital News Association.

Steinberg did not specify how he would change the appointment and election of board members, but responded when asked to clarify, "UNITY needs to be more responsive to its alliance members. The board worked this summer on proposals for reforming UNITY's structure and governance, and my proposal for change will be based on these recommendations."

However, he disagreed with Balta on the fundamental issue of whether each organization should have the same number of votes. "I believe UNITY must maintain its commitment to equal representation among all groups on its board. This structure encourages collaboration and compromise, and it ensures all of UNITY is focused on the greater good," he said.

Monday's NAHJ statement also said, "Philosophically UNITY makes sense but structurally the organization is not working to further our mission when it comes to increasing the pipeline of Latino journalists in the industry or being an advocate of journalists of color.

"UNITY doesn't have the resources to be an advocate for our organization and it usually is the last organization to issue statements on issues affecting the industry."

The statement listed the current revenue split as follows:

"20% -- Net income allocated to UNITY

"40% -- net income is divided evenly among the 4 alliance partners (10% to each organization.

"40% -- The remainder of the net income is allocated by the percentage of paid registrations each organization brings in."

Unity has said it needs money to run its own office and for deposits and other preparations for the next convention.

"The revenue from the convention also is used to support UNITY's mission -- advocating fair and accurate news coverage about diversity and challenging the news media industry to diversify their staffs at all levels, in addition to paying for deposits, staffing and other preparations for the next convention," Walt Swanston, interim executive director, told Journal-isms.

Balta and Butler separatelydisclosed that they had casually discussed the two groups meeting jointly in 2016, a presidential election year. "We need to be there in Washington, D.C.," Balta told Journal-isms. Unity is also considering meeting that year.

NABJ pulled out of the Unity coalition in 2011, also citing the revenue split and governance issues. Unity then invited NLGJA to join.

Unity held its first convention in 1994, when NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA and NAJA co-located their conventions in Atlanta. The coalition was then primarily a vehicle for the members of the four organizations to interact and demonstrate their joint support for their shared goals.

The coalition's beginnings date to the 1980s, when Juan González, an active member of the NAHJ, and Will Sutton Jr., an active member of NABJ, started comparing notes about their experiences as journalists of color. The two journalists, both in Philadelphia, met in 1986. Separately, in 1988, DeWayne Wickham, then NABJ president, convened the first joint meeting of the boards of NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA and NAJA.

In 1990, Unity was established as a nonprofit organization. In 1998, the name became Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc., which evolved last year to Unity: Journalists for Diversity after NABJ left and NLGJA joined.

"In The 'Luntzification' of the U.S. Health Care Debate, Mark D. Harmon of the University of Tennessee's College of Communication and Information shows the extent to which Luntz's GOP-friendly language permeated news coverage of health care reform.

"Harmon reviewed transcripts from the six major cable and broadcast networks for uses of 'sixteen Luntz terms' -- such as 'rationing,' 'bureaucrat,' 'Washington takeover,' 'government takeover' -- and '16 more neutral terms describing' health care reform, including 'pre-existing conditions,' 'lifetime limits,' 'profits,' 'insurance exchange,' 'patient protection' and 'affordable care.' He found that Luntz terms outnumbered neutral terms on Fox News, and also made up 'a significant percentage' of the terms used on CNN, MSNBC and on the nightly news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC.

"The research found that Luntz language was used 1,521 times on Fox while neutral language was used 1,122 times on the network. On the other networks, Luntz's language was used 4,022 times and neutral language invoked 6,323 times. . . . "

"Anchor Anna Kooiman made the remark Saturday on 'Fox & Friends' during a discussion about closed facilities. She didn't cite a source, but a satirical news site called 'National Report' had posted a story headlined: 'Obama Uses Own Money to Open Muslim Museum Amid Government Shutdown.'

"The fake story said that Obama had 'held a press conference' to announce he would use his own money to reopen the International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson, Miss.

"Kooiman said Saturday she didn't think it was fair that World War II veterans faced a closed Washington monument honoring people killed during that conflict. . . ."

"A CPB draft business plan for 2014, released last month, said that the corporation 'is considering building on the success of the NPR Code Switch initiative by extending it to local stations as a regional initiative.'

"The cross-platform production aims to examine issues of race, culture and ethnicity, and spark discussion on social media platforms and NPR's website. It launched in May with a $1.5 million, two-year grant from CPB.

"Plans to expand beyond its current operations are now in a holding pattern, however, as NPR looks for a new chief executive. 'We've been talking to NPR and PBS about a national-down-to-local diversity initiative,' said Michael Levy, executive v.p. of corporate and public affairs at CPB. 'Given that Gary is leaving NPR, we're still committed to the idea . . . but we’re not sure what form it's going to take. We're going to continue to talk with NPR and PBS.' . . ."

The hit movie "Lee Daniels' The Butler" might not have been made had two Washington Post editors not talked a downhearted Wil Haygood into going ahead with the story on which the movie would be based, Haygood said Saturday at a reception in his honor at the Washington home of Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth.

Lead producer Pamela Oas Williams flew in from Los Angeles as a surprise, and one of the newspaper story's editors, Steve Reiss, came in from Chicago. The other editor, Deborah Heard, was also present. Both have since left the Post. They joined about 100 other guests who arrived to valet parking, a red-carpeted front walk, books ready to be autographed and even napkins inscribed with the title of Haygood's best-selling book, "The Butler."

As he has on other occasions, Haygood described how he tracked down Eugene Allen, who worked for eight presidents in his 34 years at the White House, starting in 1952 as a dishwasher and retiring as maitre d’ in 1986. Anticipating the possible election of Barack Obama, Haygood "began searching for a former White House employee who had worked there in the era of segregation --someone who probably couldn't have imagined the outcome of the 2008 election," in the words of Amy Saunders, writing last December in Haygood's hometown newspaper, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.

"Hours into the interview, Allen's wife, Helene, apparently decided that the reporter had earned her trust and deserved to know more," Saunders recounted. But Helene Allen died in her sleep not long after Haygood had won their confidence and received the material for his story. He was so downcast, Haygood told the crowd, that he did not want to write it.

Reiss and Heard told him that seeing the story through would be the best tribute to Helene Allen, the model for the Oprah Winfrey character in the movie.

Post reporter Keith L. Alexander, one of the reception organizers, said Haygood becameteary-eyed when he saw that Williams was present. "She spoke of how when she read the story she was 'blown away' by the narrative. She said she loved the reporting and the information, but she was also blown away by Wil's writing style. She and her production partner said they immediately knew the story would be an incredible movie and they reached out to Wil," Alexander recounted.

"Sadly, that kind of narrative writing is rare to see these days in journalism, she said later."

Williams said the film "is the only movie of 2013 to be No. 1 three weeks in a row at the box office and has grossed $120 million. That's a $90 million profit." Boldface name Vernon Jordan, the lawyer and onetime National Urban League president, was among the guests, as were Charles Allen, Eugene Allen's son, current and former Post journalists and others.

"In his new role, Poole will provide coverage of the Golden State Warriors across the network's growing list of multiplatform outlets, including CSNBayArea.com’s 'WarriorsTalk' section and on-air for SportsNet Central, Yahoo! SportsTalk Live, Warriors Pregame Live, Warriors Postgame Live and other NBA related programming. He will make his debut during tonight's Warriors-Kings preseason game on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area at 7:30 p.m. PDT. The announcement was made by Nancy Gay, Digital Managing Editor for CSNBayArea.com and CSNCalifornia.com.

"Said Gay: 'Monte Poole is among the most respected, influential and accomplished sports journalists anywhere, on any platform. He is a tremendous storyteller, and credibility and passion are hallmarks of his work. Monte brings a broad, deeply rooted knowledge of the Golden State Warriors and we are thrilled to have him as part of our talented CSN Insider team.'

The release also said, "Poole, a native of Oakland, Calif., is one of the nation’s premier sports journalists, has been a fixture in Bay Area sports media for over two decades and is the foremost authority on the Oakland sports scene. He comes to the network from the Oakland Tribune/Bay Area News Group, where he began his career in 1985 covering high school sports; in 1991, he was promoted to sports columnist. He spent the next 22 years as an award-winning columnist covering a wide variety of events, including multiple Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Finals and championship fights. . . ."

Jorge Rojas, sports editor of the Miami Herald and chairman of the APSE Diversity Committee, told Journal-isms that the organization received "a disappointing 10" applications this year, although more than 20 had expressed their intention to apply. "It's a good group nevertheless," he said.

The diversity fellows program is one APSE response to the lack of diversity in sports departments.

The fourth biannual edition of the Associated Press Sports Editors Racial and Gender Report Card [PDF], evaluating diversity at more than 150 newspapers and websites, reported in March, "For 2012, the grade for racial hiring practices for APSE newspapers and websites remained at a C+, the same grade issued in the 2010 Study. The grade issued for gender hiring practices remained constant as well, recording the third consecutive F for gender hiring practices. The APSE newspapers have received a failing grade for gender since TIDES began issuing grades in the 2008 Report Card. . . . The combined grade for 2012 was a D+."

A memorial service for Lee Thornton, the trailblazing and award-winning journalist, news producer and educator who died at 71 on Sept. 25, is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Memorial Chapel on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, a university spokesman told Journal-isms on Tuesday. Obituaries have appeared in the student newspaper the Diamondback, in the Washington Post and in the New York Times.

"One in every three black males born today can expect to go to prison at some point in their life, compared with one in every six Latino males, and one in every 17 white males, if current incarceration trends continue," Saki Knafo reported Friday for the Huffington Post. "These are among the many pieces of evidence cited by the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for prison reform, in a report on the staggering racial disparities that permeate the American criminal justice system. . . ."

"The NYPD has identified at least a half-dozen bikers linked to a motorcycle mob’s brutal attack on a Manhattan dad -- including the crazed creep who yanked him from his family's SUV and beat him as his terrified family watched, sources said," Rocco Parascandola, Joe Kemp and Larry McShane reported Thursday for the Daily News in New York. Emil Guillermo blogged about the case for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "The [Alexian] Lien story is not a topic that would get a lot of play from columnists early on given the shutdown, and the Capitol shooting death," he told Journal-isms. "And the lack of Asian American opinion writers. But once Lien was identified as the beating victim, and all the players emerged . . . it definitely became a story worth exploring for me and my mostly Asian American audience. This was a mob situation caught on tape, but was it race motivated?"

"U.S. news organizations are invited to enroll in the Dow Jones News Fund's 2014 summer internship programs in digital, sports and news editing and business reporting," the fund announced. It also said, "Media who participate in the program agree to pay interns no less than $350 per week for at least 10 weeks of real newsroom work and to pay the Fund a grant to help underwrite the cost of the pre-internship training. The training grants are $1,000 for business reporting and digital interns and $1,200 for news and sports editors. Students who return to school after successful internships will receive $1,000 college scholarships provided by DJNF. . . ." Brochure here [PDF].

The International Federation of Journalists hailed an agreement reached by its affiliate in Palestine, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, and employers as a momentous breakthrough for its journalists. "In order to guarantee basic journalists' rights, the agreement acknowledges at its starting point (i) recognition of the right to Freedom of Association including the right of journalists to join and establish trade unions in these media houses, (ii) a commitment to issue secure employment contracts for journalists and (iii) the right to work in decent conditions that guarantee professional standards and editorial independence. . . ."

Journal-isms is published on the site of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education (mije.org). Reprinted on The Root by permission.